Back with the Yaks

Buddah statues inside a Monastery
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Lhasa is the spiritual and former political capital of Tibet. It was the home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan parliament before the Chinese invaded in 1959. The city is built around the Jokhang Temple (a major buddist monastery).

Pilgrims come in their thousands to prey at the Jokhang and walk in a clock-wise circle around it (called a Khora). Thousands of market stalls line the khora, and we had fun bargaining hard for useless souvenirs.

We did a tour of the Potala Palace (the former home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Parliament house). The Chinese Red Army tried to destroy the palace during the 1959 invasion, however a Chinese general recognised the Palace's significance and deployed his soldiers to defend the Palace from other Chinese. UNESCO listed the Palace as a world heritage site, so much to China's dismay, they can't bulldoze it now without international outcry.

View of the Potala Palace from the roof of our guest house in Lhasa
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As a result, the Chinese government allows tourists to view the palace, but under unnecessarily onerous conditions. Visitors are only allowed for 1 hour each day, supervised by a  government-approved guide.  We crammed in with around 500 other people to  see the Palace. The Palace contains the tombs of many of the previous Dalai Lamas and the brightly coloured chambers of the present Dalai Lama. Photographs were not allowed, so there's no posting of the inside.

We spent a morning at a school for blind children called "Braille Without Borders". We also went on a day trip to Ganden Monastery, a spectacular monastery perched on the top of a mountain. We visited Deprung Monastery where the robed monks sit in the garden and debate scripture - much to Steve's disappointment, he was not allowed to join in!

View of Barkor Square
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However, it was not all culture. We had a great Tuesday night out at a Chinese karaoke club. The club had about 10 lusciously furnished, private karaoke rooms where waitresses brought drinks to our couches in between a very limited selection of 80s classics. We managed to wreck "Take Me Home Country Road" for all time.

Afterwards, we kicked on to a proper nightclub that was fully decked out with more lasers than we could poke a stick at. The only foreigners in the place, we were worshipped on the dance-floor all night, not only because of our dancing prowess, but because we knew the words to the english house-tunes being spun by the DJ.